[Event "Stavanger Chess Challenge - Round 9:"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2020.07.10"] [White "Lucas Ranaldi"] [Black "Aleksander Fossan"] [Result "1-0"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B29"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Closed Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/JoaBN"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/jt5O3apD/QSzWaXYM"] [Orientation "white"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. e4 { White transposes to the Sicilian Defence. } 2... Nf6 { An offbeat choice from Fossan who played this several times during the tournement. This has been played by Nils Grandelius against Magnus Carlsen, among others - without much success. } 3. Nc3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Ne5 Nf6 7. Qf3 { The players are all booked up and are following well-known theoretical recommendations. } 7... Qc8 8. Nxd7 { White grabs the bishop painr and thereby secures himself a long-term advantage, albeit a small one. } 8... Nbxd7 9. b3 { Lucas follows a game by the Chinese grandmaster Yu Yangyi from 2019. } 9... e6 10. Bb2 Be7 11. O-O-O a6 { Forcing White's hand. } 12. Bxd7+ (12. Be2 { A quiet choice. This preserves the bishop pair but doesn't really test Black. } 12... Qc7 13. Kb1 O-O-O!? $13 { [%cal Gd7e5] }) 12... Qxd7 13. Ne4 (13. g4!? { Anticipating that Black will castle to the kingside. } 13... O-O (13... O-O-O 14. h4! { Even though Black's king is safely tucked away on the queenside, White's ambitions are still to break through on the kingside. } { [%csl Gb2][%cal Gg4g5,Gb2g7] }) 14. g5 $40 { [%cal Gh2h4] } (14. h4 $40)) 13... Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Qd5 15. Qxd5 exd5 16. Rhe1 (16. Bxg7 Rg8 17. Be5 Rxg2 18. Bg3 Kd7 { The rook is safe on g2 as White has no way of attacking it. } { [%csl Gg2][%cal Gh7h4,Ge7d6] }) 16... f6 17. d4 { Black is way behind in development. } 17... Kf7 18. dxc5 { [%csl Rd5] } 18... Rhd8 19. b4 $16 (19. Bd4) 19... a5 20. a3 axb4 21. axb4 b6 22. cxb6 Bxb4 23. Re3 Rab8 24. Bd4 Ba5 25. Rb3 $18 { After some precise technical moves White is a full pawn up. Black struggles to get compensation in the following sequence, but Lucas is in full controll: } 25... Rd6 26. Bc5 Rc6 27. Rxd5 Bxb6 28. Rd7+ Kg8 29. Bxb6 Rbxb6 30. Rg3 (30. Rxb6 Rxb6 31. c4 { ..is simple enough. } 31... Rc6 32. Rd4 { [%cal Gc1c3] }) 30... g6 (30... g5) 31. Re3 { [%cal Ye3e8] } 31... Rc8 32. Red3 Rbc6 33. Rd8+ Rxd8 34. Rxd8+ Kg7 35. Rd7+ Kh6 36. Kd2 g5 37. Kd3 Kg6 38. c4 { The passed pawn decides the game. } { [%csl Gc4] } 38... h5 39. Kc3 Kf5 40. Rd5+ Ke6 41. Rd2 h4 42. h3 f5 43. Re2+ Kf6 44. Kb4 g4 45. c5 Kg5 46. Kb5 Rc8 47. c6 Kf4 48. Re3 Rb8+ 49. Kc5 Rb2 50. Rc3 g3 51. fxg3+ { 1-0 Black resigns. } 1-0